Advanced Materials Applications, LLC (AMA) is pleased to announce our name change to Yosemite Space. This change reflects our primary focus on developing innovative products for Space applications. In late October 2014, a Yosemite Space experiment using state of the art System on Chip (SoC) technology will be deployed in the NanoRacks External Platform outside the International Space Station. This platform will expose the components to space radiation and communicate the status of the Yosemite Space payload back to Earth. Information on computing performance will be used by Yosemite Space to develop next generation reliable computers.

The Yosemite Space logo was inspired by the Space.com photograph of the International Space Station traveling across the night sky above the spectacular landmark Half Dome.

Jeremy Zawodny of AMA traveled to Houston in early July of this year to work with Astrium of North America and NanoRacks on the integration of our boards into the NanoRacks External Platform (NREP). The primary goals of testing were to confirm AMA’s communication software was compatible with the NREP Command Data and Handling (CDH). Testing was successful.

Our payload will transmit information on single event effects during the space mission through the NREP health and status reporting and the medium rate telemetry stream. As a result, AMA can retrieve this rate semi-real-time back on Earth.

Dr. Morse of AMA spoke at the NASA Digital Learning Network in March 2014. She discussed the space-friendly nature of current generation cell phone processors with high school students from across the U.S.. She explained how terrestrial electronics can be protected from the space radiation environment and provides a powerful computing platform for space applications.

She will discuss the progress that AMA is making towards understanding how current generation system on a chip (SoC) technology behaves in a radiation environment. In addition, she will provide updates on the SoC payload scheduled to arrive on the external module of the ISS September 2014.

AMA looks forward to learning of the electronics requirements of Deep Space CubeSats and how we can work with customers to help them meet their exploration goals.

She will speak on AMA’s plans to evaluate the performance of Gumstix™ system on a chip in ground based and space based radiation studies. Ground based radiation studies will take place at Crocker Nuclear Labs from July to December of this year. Space based studies will occur on an external module of the International Space Station.

The ground and space based radiation studies of the Gumstix™ module will be the first published studies of its kind. This will be an initial and an important first step to integrate this powerful system on a chip technology into future radiation tolerant computers.

Radiation hardened and radiation tolerant computers do not offer an optimum processing solution for space applications that are computationally demanding such as signal processing and analysis, data capture, and sensing and detection. Current space qualified computers use processors that are 2 or 3 generations behind the state-of-the-art terrestrial processing technologies. Advanced Materials Applications, LLC (AMA) proposes ground based and space based radiation studies to investigate the feasibility of the Gumstix™ Computer On Module (COM) technology for use in non-critical computationally intensive space applications. Gumstix™ modules are gum stick sized and use current generation OMAP processors with ARM Cortex-A8 architecture. The proposed study is an important step towards their use in a fault tolerant computers that could meet the computational demands of current and next generation space missions.

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A significant challenge in the advancement of space technology has been the space qualification advanced materials and devices. From my own experience working in the aerospace industry, the integration of new materials and devices into space applications is virtually impossible if the material has not already been proven in space. Due to tight research and development budgets, it is very difficult to mature emerging technology to the level at which lead engineers are comfortable integrating these into payloads. The maturation of new technology is described by the Air Force definition of Technical Readiness Level (TRL).

It is level 5 in the TRL process that the advanced material undergoes testing in the relevant environment. With tight budgets, testing in the relevant environment, in this case space, was traditionally very expensive and slow. However, NASA has teamed up with Nanoracks to provide both an inexpensive and relatively quick way to do this on the International Space Station (ISS).

Nanoracks provides a low cost “plug and play” research facility for small standardized payloads that can be interfaced with the ISS data and power management systems. Nanoracks offers access to both the micro gravity environment and the low earth orbit environment (radiation, atomic oxygen, hard vacuum and temperature extremes). A typical turnaround time for a trip to the ISS is on the order of months (not years).

The gliders produced by Windward Performance LTD. have caused a buzz in the glider community. Using less conventional materials and new airfoil designs, the company is creating gliders with improved performance when compared to its competitors.

I had a chance to talk with Wade Carman, an engineer and glider pilot at Windward Performance, about the innovative gliders that they they are developing.

Question: What was the inspiration to starting Windward Performance?

Wade: Greg Cole, the owner and chief designer, wanted to create an ultra-light sailplane that is fun and safe to fly.

Current models include the SparrowHawk which has an empty weight of 154lbs. and the DuckHawk SV with an empty weight of 435lbs. (For comparison, the Glasflügel 303 Mosquito glider has an empty weight of 532lbs.)

Question: What are the advantages to an ultra light weight glider?

Wade: There are several advantages.

It is easier to assembly. Unlike conventional gliders that require 2 or more people to assemble or require special rigs, these gliders have light wings and can be assembled with one person.

It has a low sink rate and low wing loading so it can efficiently climb in weak lift (aka. micro-lift). The lift is easier to work and therefore it ia easier to gain altitude.

Lighter weight gliders are less expensive to build.

Question: What are some of the less conventional materials that are being used in the gliders?

Wade:Kevlar-based cable is used instead of the more traditional steel push-rods for the aileron, rudder and elevator. Kevlar cable doesn’t stretch. It is as strong as steel push-rods in tension. Kevlar is also lighter weight than steel.

The gliders are optimized for dynamic soaring. When flying through significant gradients between air masses, these strong, stiff and light weight gliders are optimize to gain altitude efficiently.

Question: I see that these models use unique airfoils. What performance specifications are they optimized for?

Wade: Greg designs the airfoils using in-house and commercial software. He has gone through roughly a thousand two-dimensional airfoil sets. Using a sub-set of these, he builds a three dimensional airfoil. The Duckhawk has a complex combination of airfoils that are optimized for sailplanes used in competition. The high aspect ratio wing coupled with the strong and light weight materials enable gliders to climb fast in thermals and fly fast between thermal.

Question: What are the future goals of the company?

Wade: We want to continue to make fun and safe gliders. We are also developing two-place motor gliders.